Black scientists and inventors

Young black scientists today
Famous black scientists who changed the world
Most famous black scientists

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Black Scientists Who Changed the World

Stephon Alexander, physicist: The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe by Stephon Alexander

Book suggestions submitted by NYPL book experts: Brian Baer, Jenny Baum, Shauntee Burns, Kathie Coblentz, Jennifer Craft, Althea Georges, Susan Tucker Heimbach, Katrina Ortega, Jeffrey Katz, Annie Lin, Amber Moller, Nanor Pagosian, Isaiah Pittman, Jenny Rosenoff, Anne Rouyer, and Amie Wright.

**All images courtesy of Wikipedia except Aprille Ericsson-Jackson, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on Flickr; Stephon Alexander, from stephonalexander.org; Benjamin Bannecker, from blackinventor.com

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List of African-American inventors and scientists

Name Years Occupations Inventions / accomplishments References Adkins, Rodney1958– Electrical engineer First African-American to serve as a senior vice president at IBM, helped develop IBM ThinkPad Alcorn, George Edward Jr.1940– Physicist, inventor Invented a method of fabricating an imaging X-ray spectrometer^[8]^[9]Alexander, Archie1888–1958 Civil engineer Responsible for the construction of many roads and bridges, including the Whitehurst Freeway, the Tidal Basin Bridge, and an extension to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Ammons, VirgieDecember 29, 1908 – July 12, 2000 Inventor Filed the fireplace throat damper patent on August 6, 1974. ^[10]Amos, Harold1918–2003 MicrobiologistFirst African-American department chair at Harvard Medical School^[11]Andrews, James J.1930–1998 Mathematician Put forth the Andrews–Curtis conjecture in group theory with Morton L. Curtis, still unsolved ^[12]Bailey, Leonard C

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Making History: African American Pioneers of Science

Scientists, engineers, and inventors find the solutions to the world's problems. Learn about the work that these Black scientists and inventors have accomplished that make our lives better.

BORN: January 1864
DIED: January 5, 1943
OCCUPATION: Agricultural chemist, agriculturalist, scientist, educator

George Washington Carver was an agricultural chemist who gained acclaim for his discovery of alternative farming methods. Carver is best known for his discovery of uses for the peanut. Among the products Carver developed from peanuts were soap, face powder, mayonnaise, shampoo, metal polish, and adhesives—but he did not invent peanut butter.

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Born: September 20, 1910
Died: November 10, 2008
Occupation: NASA mathematician

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Known as a “human computer,” Dorothy Johnson Vaughan was part of a team that did mathematical calculations to help launch satelli